President Trump Approves Historic Amount of Emergency Declarations in Record Time to Supplement State-Led Response Activities

The Department of Homeland Security and FEMA encourage residents to follow local officials as severe winter weather threats increase

WASHINGTON – Under the direction of the United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, FEMA is actively coordinating with states across a large portion of the country to support state led, locally executed response efforts to severe winter weather. Residents and visitors should continue following instructions from local officials and monitor local weather.

What Emergency Declarations Include

President Trump approved 12 federal emergency disaster declarations for Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia – enabling states to access critical federal resources to supplement their response efforts, if needed.

Federal emergency declarations allow states to tap into federal support through FEMA to provide lifesaving, life-sustaining resources. These declarations help the state-led efforts of getting the power back on, helping clearing roads for emergency services and keeping communities safe. The support for this disaster will be provided at 75% federal funding.

What FEMA is Doing 

The agency’s distribution centers are stocked with more than 300 generators, over 7 million meals, more than 3 million liters of water and over 650,000 blankets.  

FEMA is also delivering resources including 485,000 meals, 770,000 liters of water, 2,200 cots and medical equipment, 90 generators and 71 semitrucks and drivers across federal staging sites in Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia to support and streamline potential state requests.

In total, approximately 900 FEMA staff and personnel from other federal agencies are deployed to support affected states, and many are directly embedded in state emergency operations centers to ensure close coordination on response efforts.

FEMA has deployed three specialized teams to Texas, Louisiana and Virginia with 12 additional teams ready to deploy if needed. Additionally, 27 FEMA Urban Search and Rescue task forces are rostered and ready to assist at the request of governors.

These efforts include coordinating with states to actively monitor power outages, shelter occupancy and road closures across affected areas to quickly provide support if needed.

Safety Tips 

Stay off the roads if local officials ask you to do so. This will help keep you safe and allow emergency response personnel to do their job. Those who need to drive should check local weather and traffic reports before leaving. Consider postponing non-essential travel. 

Never use generators indoors. Keep generators at least 20 feet from windows, doors and garages to avoid. Using generators indoors can cause carbon monoxide poisoning.

Do not use a gas stove, propane heater or oven to heat your home. If you are using a kerosene heater, use only water-clear 1-K grade kerosene. Never use gasoline.

Call 211 or visit your local emergency management agency or community’s website for the location of warming shelters. You can also find shelters by visiting the American Red Cross shelter locator or calling 800-RED CROSS. 

Download the FEMA App to receive real-time weather and emergency, send notifications to loved ones, locate emergency shelters in your area, get preparedness strategies and more.

Find more winter safety tips at Ready.gov.

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